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The two remaining goats at Craney Island landfill graze on the east end of the Craney Island landfill on Aug 10, 2017, in Portsmouth. The city is ending the experimental program of using goats and sheep, to keep vegetation in check at the site.

One of the two remaining goats at Craney Island landfill in Portsmouth checks out a visitor on Aug 10, 2017. The female goats, called Thelma and Louise by landfill supervisor Chris Bower, like to hang out on a hill on the east end of the landfill. At one point the city had 10 goats and 10 sheep working to keep the vegetation down, but has now decided to end the program.

A pod container provides shelter for the two remaining goats at the Craney Island landfill in Portsmouth, photographed on Aug 10, 2017. At one point the city had 10 goats and 10 sheep working to keep the vegetation down, but has now decided to end the program.

Two female goats, called Thelma and Louise by landfill supervisor Chris Bower, hang out on a hill on the east end of the Craney Island landfill in Portsmouth on Aug 10, 2017. The city has decided to scrap their experimental program using goats to trim the grass at the landfill.

One of the two remaining goats at Craney Island landfill in Portsmouth checks out a visitor on Aug 10, 2017. The female goats, called Thelma and Louise by landfill supervisor Chris Bower, like to hang out on a hill on the east end of the landfill. At one point the city had 10 goats and 10 sheep working to keep the vegetation down, but has now decided to end the program.

PORTSMOUTH

Sixteen goats and sheep are likely dead about four years after Portsmouth bought them to trim the grass at the Craney Island landfill.

The landscaping plan failed, its organizers are gone and administrators can’t account for most of the animals.

“We just haven’t been able to locate them,” said Erin Trimyer, the city’s director of Public Utilities. “I can’t tell you specifically if it was a coyote or what other wildlife is out there, but it is our assumption that the rest of the animals have passed away.”

At a work session last month, City Manager Lydia Pettis Patton suggested to council members that they had been killed by coyotes and “other wildlife.”

Only two nanny goats live there now, roaming free as the hardy vestiges of an expensive landscaping flop. Landfill supervisor Chris Bower, who inherited the animals from his predecessor, now watches over them by making sure they have the basics: fresh water, a healthy diet and shelter .

“The one on the left with the darker face, I call her Thelma. The other one’s Louise,” Bower said as the goats galloped toward his truck last Thursday morning. “They live a pretty good life.”

The two remaining goats at Craney Island landfill graze on the east end of the Craney Island landfill on Aug 10, 2017, in Portsmouth. The city is ending the experimental program of using goats and sheep, to keep vegetation in check at the site.

Landfill supervisors wanted to use livestock to save money on a specialty lawnmower and staff time to trim the roughly 120-acre field, which has a hilly terrain making it tricky to navigate. They bought 10 goats and 10 sheep to tame the vegetation, spending about $10,000 in startup costs.

Since then, two goats died from parasites, two were sent to live on a farm in Chesapeake, and one was fatally attacked by what is assumed to be a coyote. Two newborn goats also were crushed to death by their mother in late 2013, halting the city’s plan to breed the animals. The rest have disappeared from the landfill, effectively ending the project.

Officials have since bought a $135,000 specialty mower to tackle the job . Trimyer said the city stopped spending money on the goatscaping program at the end of the 2015 fiscal year.

It’s unclear what will happen to the remaining livestock. Officials are “currently exploring our options pertaining to the goats,” Trimyer wrote in an email.

Two female goats, called Thelma and Louise by landfill supervisor Chris Bower, hang out on a hill on the east end of the Craney Island landfill in Portsmouth on Aug 10, 2017. The city has decided to scrap their experimental program using goats to trim the grass at the landfill.

Then-General Services Department Director Dennis Bagley and then-City Manager John Rowe recommended the plan in June 2013 to the City Council, which gave staff the green light to buy the goats. Bagley eventually was forced out of his job, and the division’s duties were folded into other departments.

Rowe, who was fired by council members in 2015 then elected mayor last year, stressed that the project was an experiment and that everyone on board – including the council – knew it might not work. The city, he said, was fine with having long grass at the site, but the state Department of Environmental Quality, which regulates landfills, had been pressing officials to trim it.

“By the end of the first year of the experiment in 2014, we realized that using goats to cut the grass was not working,” Rowe said.

The city kept the animals because it couldn’t find anywhere else to put them. Rowe said he reported to the council that the plan was a “good try,” but it failed. He doesn’t know what the city decided to do about the animals after he left in 2015, he said, and the topic hasn’t come up since he took office as mayor.

Attempts to reach Bagley and former landfill Superintendent Henry Strickland were unsuccessful.

Project leaders eventually learned they would have needed a much larger herd – well over 1,000 animals – to cover the space.

That’s why goatscaping specialists rent out herds, often to government groups and homeowner associations. There are plenty of variables to consider, including the type of unwanted vegetation that goats are expected to eat, said Mary Bowen, the owner of Maryland-based Browsing Green Goats.

“When I started this business, it was hard for people to understand why I would charge what I was charging,” Bowen said. “Many people say, ‘Oh, I’ll just get my own goats and do it myself.’ And they don’t want to look at what it takes to actually bring goats to a job.”

A pod container provides shelter for the two remaining goats at the Craney Island landfill in Portsmouth, photographed on Aug 10, 2017. At one point the city had 10 goats and 10 sheep working to keep the vegetation down, but has now decided to end the program.

Neither Norfolk nor Virginia Beach have used animals for landscaping in at least the past decade. Julie Braley, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation Department, said the city explored the concept about 10 years ago but decided not to do it.

Jace Goodling, a local goatscaper who gave Portsmouth officials a job quote that they considered too costly, said people often underestimate how much attention the animals need.

“Goats are not like lawn mowers you can turn on and then turn back off,” Goodling said. “They’re not machines.”

More information

The city’s experimental goat grass-cutting program is still in operation at the city's landfill and costing the cash-strapped city nearly $2,000 a year. “They (city staff) care about those goats,” said Dennis Bagley, the former General Services director for Portsmouth. “They are not going to let them go.”

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Welcome to the discussion.

No name-calling, personal insults or threats. No attacks based on
race, gender, ethnicity, etc. No writing with your caps lock on –
it's screaming. Stay on topic and under 1,500 characters. No
profanity or vulgarity. Stay G- or PG-rated.